The present invention is in the field of conumer products comprising photobleaches and photodisinfectants, epecially metal or metalloid phthalocyanine compounds useful for treating fabrics, e.g., in consumer products such as laundry detergents.
Historically, photobleaches in consumer products have been ionic, usually as a result of sulfonation. Salt forms of simple Zn or Al phthalocyanines are typically used. Sulfonation improves water-solubility and decreases interaction with common anionic surfactants used in detergents, but increases melting-point of the photobieach relative to a non-charged or non-salt material. Making a photobleach hydrophilic and giving it anionic charge also reduces its ability to partition into, and, upon exposure to light, to bleach oily, soils and stains.
Recently, certain non-charged (nonionic) photobleaches have been developed. These include sophisticated ligands and non-charged photobleaches among those disclosed in WO 98/32832 A, WO 98/32829 A, WO 98/32828 A, WO 98/32827 A, WO 98/32826 A, WO 98/32825 A, and WO 98/32824 A all published Jul. 30, 1998; and WO 97/05203 A and WO 97/05202 published Feb. 13, 1997. These materials can be quite hydrophobic and are useful in laundry detergents. They have an improved ability to treat oily soils.
Other photobleaches used in detergents have included some so-called xe2x80x9cion pairxe2x80x9d types.
Despite the recent advances, there remains a need for further improvements in photobleaches and/or photodisinfectants for use in consumer products. Specifically, there is an ongoing need for consumer products comprising photobleaches and/or photodisinfectants which are more resistant to aggregation, more useful for treating synthetic or lipid-soiled fabrics, and are readily capable of being uniformly dispersed, e.g., on dilution, in a consumer product composition. Uniform dispersion is very important to avoid a patchy effect in photobleaching of fabrics, or for effective photodisinfectancy.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide further improvements in consumer product compositions comprising photobleach and/or photodisinfectant compounds.
These and other objects are accomplished herein, as will be seen from the following disclosure.
See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,872,248; 5,484,778; 5,763,602; Derwent 93-032275; EP-284,370 A; EP-296,876; EP-366,440; EP-484,027 A; EP 538,228 A; EP-596,184; GB 2,260,996; GB 2,279,657; GB 2,313,122; JP 3285998 (See Derwent 92-038692); JP 51/39044; JP 52/55339; JP 60/48047; JP 61/57536; JP 7292398 A (see Derwent 96-017535); KR 97-61275; KR 9102515 (see Derwent 92-321309); U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,860,484; 4,166,718; 4,209,417; 4,304,719; 4,368,053; 4,800,188; 4,806,514; 4,911,919; 5,135,717; 5,280,183; 5,346,670; 5,437,929; 5,482,514; 5,484,778; 5,561,106; 5,585,483; 5,665,689; 5,665,875; 5,679,661; 5,733,560; 5,824,800; WO 91/18006; WO 91/18007; WO 92/01753; WO 92/01753; WO 94/22960; WO 95/06688; WO 95/24267; WO 95/31526; WO 96/29367; WO 97/05202; WO 97/05202; WO 97/05203; WO 97/10811; WO 98/14521; WO 98/25455; WO 98/32827; WO 98/32832; and WO 98/44052.
See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,536, Jun. 18, 1963; U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,967, Dec. 23, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,718, Jul. 5, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,920, Dec. 23, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,273, Mar. 10, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,597, Mar. 17, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,883, Mar. 9, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,741, Feb. 5, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,992, Mar. 10, 1987; and U.K. Pat. Appl. 1,372,035 published Oct. 30, 1974; U.K Pat. Appl. 1,408,144 published Oct. 1, 1975; U.K. Pat App. 2,159,516 published Dec. 4, 1985; E.P. 285,965 A2; E.P. 381,211 A2 published Aug. 8, 1990; E.P. 484,027 Al published May 6, 1992; and Japanese Kokai 06-73397 Derwent Abst. No. (94-128933) published Mar. 15, 1994.
In addition to the above, other references describe the synthesis, preparation and properties of phthalocyanines and naphthalocyanines; see Phthalocyanines: Properties and Applications, Leznoff, C. C. and Lever A. B. P. (Eds), VCH, 1989; Infrared Absorbing Dyes, Matsuoka, M. (Ed), Plenum, 1990; Inorg. Chem., Lowery, M. J. et al., 4, pg. 128, (1965); Inorg. Chem. Joyner R. D. et al., 1, pg. 236, (1962); Inorg. Chem., Kroenke, W. E. et al., 3, 696, 1964; Inorg. Chem. Esposito, J. N. et al., 5, pg.1979, (1966); J. Am. Chem. Soc. Wheeler, B. L. et al., 106, pg. 7404, (1984); Inorg. Chem. Ford, W. E, et al., 31, pg. 3371, (1992); Material Science, Witkiewicz, Z. et al., 11, pg. 39, (1978); J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. I, Cook, M. J., et al., pg. 2453, (1988); J. Chin. Chem. Soc., 40, pg. 141, (1993); J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem., 28, pg. 899, (1966); Polymer Preps, 25, pg. 234, (1986); Chem. Lett., 2137, (1990); J. Med. Chem., 37, pg. 415, (1994).
In one embodiment, the present invention provides an improvement in a composition for consumer product application comprising at least one adjunct (which can vary widely, e.g., detergent adjuncts, softeners, water-purifiers, dry-cleaning adjuncts) and a nonionic photobleach or photodisinfectant compound (the terms photobleach and photodisinfectant being used interchangable except where specifically noted) wherein the nonionic photobleach compound comprises: (A) a metal or metalloid selected from Ga. Ge, Sn, Si and Al; (B) a chromophore selected from substituted phthalocyanine, unsubstituted phthalocyanine, substituted naphthalocyanine and unsubstituted naphthalocyanine; and (C) one or two bonded ligands, occupying axial positions. The improvement comprises at least one of said ligands (the axially bonded ligands) having the formula: 
wherein R1 and R2 are C1-C4 alkyl moieties, preferably methyl; a is a number from 2 to 16, more preferably 2 to 6, preferably 3; and R3 and R4 are moieties that can vary independently and are selected from the group consisting of: H, C1-C18 alkyl, alkaryl (e.g., benzyl) and a moiety
xe2x80x94(CH2)bxe2x80x94X
wherein b is a number from 2 to 16, more preferably 2 to 6, preferably 2; and X is a hetero-atom containing moiety, preferably an aminofunctional moiety selected from the group consisting of: 
wherein R5 and R6 can vary independently and are selected from the group consisting of: H, C1-C18 alkyl, and alkaryl (e.g., benzyl); and * marks the bond to said metal or metalloid.
Stated alternatively, the invention includes a composition for consumer product application comprising at least one adjunct (preferably at least about 0.0001% of said adjunct wherein said adjunct is unsuitable for photodynamic therapy or other purposes in internal medicine) and at least about 0.001 ppm, preferably 0.015 ppm to about 0.5% of a nonionic photobleach compound characterized by:
(A) a metal or metalloid selected from Ga, Ge, Sn, Si and Al; (B) a chromophore selected from substituted phthalocyanine, unsubstituted phthalocyanine, substituted phthalocyanine and unsubstituted naphthalocyanine; and (C) one or two bonded ligands, occupying axial positions; wherein said ligands (the aforementioned bonded ligands) comprise at least one ligand having the formula: 
wherein R1 and R2 are C1-C4 alkyl moieties, preferably methyl; a is a number from 2 to 16, more preferably 2 to 6, preferably 3; and R3 and R4 are moieties that can vary independently and are selected from the group consisting of: H, C1-C18 alkyl, alkaryl (e.g., benzyl) and a moiety
xe2x80x94(CH2)bxe2x80x94X
wherein b is a number from 2 to 16, more preferably 2 to 6, preferably 2; and X is a hetero-atom containing moiety, preferably an aminofunctional moiety selected from the group consisting of: 
wherein R5 and R6 can vary independently and are selected from the group consisting of: H, C1-C8 alkyl, and alkaryl (e.g., benzyl); and * marks the bond to said metal or metalloid.
In a preferred embodiment, the invention encompasses a composition as generally described above wherein said chromophore is selected from the group consisting of unsubstituted phthalocyanine, phthalocyanine substituted by from 1 to 8 C1-C8 alkyl or alkaryl substituents, unsubstituted naphthalocyanine and naphthalocyanine substituted by from 1 to 8 C1-C8 alkyl or alkaryl substituents and said ligand has a formula selected from the group consisting of: 
wherein R3 and R4 are selected from the group consisting of H and methyl and xe2x80x94(CH2)2N(CH3)2. An example of such ligand is: 
The present compositions constitute useful consumer products, as will be seen from the following disclosure.
The invention has many other ramifications and embodiments, and numerous advantages, as will also be seen from the disclosure. All percentages and proportions herein are by weight unless otherwise indicated. The units of parts per million or xe2x80x9cppmxe2x80x9d wherein 1 ppm=1 milligram per liter 0.0001% by weight may alternatively be used herein from time to time, especially for content of photobleach compound in a composition of the invention.
All documents cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.